Liberalism and Its Discontents

Liberalism - the comparatively mild-mannered sibling to the more ardent camps of nationalism and socialism - has never been so divisive as today. From the failed Cameron-Clegg Coalition to Putin's populism and the Trump administration, it has both thrived and failed under identity politics, authoritarianism, and a weakened free press the world over. Since its birth following the post Reformation wars, liberalism has come under attack by conservatives and progressives alike, and today is dismissed as an 'obsolete doctrine. ' In this brilliant and concise exposition, Francis Fukuyama sets out the cases for and against its classical premises: observing the rule of law, independence of judges, means over ends, and most of all, tolerance. Pithy, to the point, and ever pertinent, this is political dissection at its very best.